Warning Northumberland will need 'large share' of Government cash to fix potholes

However, leading Tory councillors have warned the county’s extensive road networks need a large share of the promised £500million to make a difference.

Northumberland has more than 3,000km of roads that have been damaged by successive years of very wet weather. The council has said that the money is for the next financial year. As of yet no allocations have been made.

Cabinet member for highways at the local authority, Coun John Riddle, said: “The last Conservative government committed £8.5billion into road repairs guaranteeing funds over a sustained period. This saw £3.3million of additional funds provided to NCC this year.

“The council supplemented money from those funds with £6.9million of our own funds this year, meaning this year alone we will have spent £36million on our roads and highways.

“We are grateful for any additional funds from the new government, but have yet to find out how much of this £500million will come to Northumberland. There are hundreds of councils in the UK, but hopefully those distributing the funds appreciate that with over 3,000km of roads, Northumberland needs one of the largest shares.

“I will be writing to the relevant minister making this case for Northumberland, as our administration always does.”

Meanwhile, the money has been welcomed by Hexham’s Labour MP Joe Morris.

He said: “Fourteen years of the Conservatives saw Britain’s roads plagued with potholes – leaving a legacy of crumbling roads and creaking infrastructure. The shocking state of our local roads is not just dangerous, it also saddles drivers with spiralling car repair costs.

“I know fixing this mess is a top priority of my constituents in Hexham. I’m delighted that, in its first budget, the new Labour Government has announced an almost 50% increase in funding to deliver lasting repairs to our local roads.

“This will make a huge difference to the daily lives of people across the Hexham constituency, who for too long have had to put up with badly maintained roads.”

The Government says it was estimated that the North East had 2,000 miles of damaged roads, with 21% of roads in poor condition.